05 December 2024 : Celebrations as Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visits NCI Shoreham
Sussex volunteers had an extra reason to celebrate International Volunteers Day on Thursday 5 December 2024 when Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal visited the National Coastwatch station at Shoreham.
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal is Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a charity run entirely by volunteers. This year it celebrates its 30th anniversary of helping to save lives around the coast.
It is the Princess Royal’s seventh visit this year to an NCI station and NCI Shoreham is one of 60 around the coast. The historic station was originally built as part of the emergency coastal battery at Shoreham Fort during the Second World War. It housed a powerful searchlight designed to spot enemy vessels approaching the coastline. After the war it appeared in the film ‘Battle of the V1’, before being used to house the fuses for the harbour lights for the reconstructed harbour entrance in the 1950s. The building was then largely left untouched until 2008 when the volunteers of NCI completely rebuilt and equipped it as a new lookout along the busy stretch of the coast between Brighton and Worthing.
The Princess Royal was received at the station by His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard. She presented NCI Chair Stephen Hand who then presented NCI Shoreham Station Manager Colin Clay.
Stephen Hand and Colin Clay escorted Her Royal Highness into the station for a briefing about the work of the highly trained volunteer watchkeepers and their part in helping to save lives around the coast. Mr Clay presented the duty watchkeepers Dennis Holden (Deputy Station Manager for training and NCI Shoreham founding member) and Paul Cornford.
All 2,800 National Coastwatch volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent, including the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.
Her Royal Highness was briefed on the coastal risks at Shoreham and the work of the volunteers, who have been involved in over 40 incidents in which 12 people were rescued in the past 12 months.
Situated on the western side of Shoreham Harbour entrance and mouth of the River Adur, NCI Shoreham oversees the busy coastline between Brighton and Worthing. The wide variety of marine users keeps the volunteer watchkeepers at Shoreham on their toes throughout the year. From commercial vessels to fishing kayakers, large dredgers carrying aggregate for the construction industry to small sailing dinghies, kite surfers, rowing boats, jet skis, swimmers, and more, all come within sight of the station.
After visiting the station, The Princess Royal attended a reception at Shoreham Sailing Club. His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant presented David Taylor, NCI Sector Manager; Councillor Joe Panell, Chairman of Adur District Council; Tom Rutland, Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham; and Tyler Harmsworth, Rear Commodore of Shoreham Sailing Club.
The reception was attended by around 45 NCI watchkeepers and guests from the local community including Shoreham RNLI, HM Coastguard Shoreham and Shoreham Port Authority. Also present were Richard Durrant, Patron of NCI Shoreham; Jo Shiner, Chief Constable of Sussex Police; Joss Loader, Local Councillor; and Gary Baines, Friends of Shoreham Fort.
The Princess Royal presented long service awards to Mike Hobbs (15 years), Tim Tuson (5 years), and Craig Searle (5 years).
Stephen Hand, NCI chair, formally welcomed Her Royal Highness to NCI Shoreham and thanked her for her visit. Her Royal Highness unveiled a plaque to commemorate the visit which will be placed in the Shoreham station.
Mr Hand said:
“It’s been an incredibly special year for us as we’ve celebrated our 30th anniversary of helping to keep people safe on the coast and save lives at sea. The year has been punctuated by the very special highlights of HRH The Princess Royal’s visits and we’re both honoured and fortunate to have her patronage.
“Without exception, these visits always lift our spirits and create the perfect opportunity to celebrate lifesaving work and bring together our volunteers, friends and supporters from local communities.”
Colin Clay, NCI Shoreham Station Manager added:
“As one of the busiest Coastwatch stations in the NCI, I’m very pleased that all the hard work that we do has been recognised by a visit by Her Royal Highness.
“We have been working extremely hard in preparation of the arrival of Her Royal Highness, and I’m delighted that the effort has paid off.”